Success!

The girls and I went to Lifetime again today for another go round with the childcare and Paige. I decided to call this morning right when we got up and make a reservation for Paige to be in the infant section. We got there at 10am and I handed Paige off to a young girl named Jenna, I asked her to not page me for at least 20 minutes because once they page me and I come down to see Paige I can't leave her again. So I said my goodbyes to both the girls and quickly escaped out the door to the sound of Paige's screams. I headed upstairs and did 15 minutes on the Elliptical Machine and then headed over to the Treadmill for another 15 minutes (or so I was hoping)once the clock hit that 20 minute mark I was waiting for my name to be called, but nothing! Then when I was finished with the Treadmill I headed over to do the bike for 10 minutes or so, all the time listening for a page, but again nothing!! So I finished with the bike and decided that I better not push my luck and headed back to the childcare after a 45 minute workout. It was wonderful to be able to get my complete (well I would have liked to lift weights) in and not be interrupted. When I got down to get the girls I saw Claire doing something in a circle with a bunch of other kids that looked like the "Hokey Pokey" and when I got to Paige there she was still in Jenna's arms. I said "oh no have you had to hold her the whole time I was gone?" She answered "pretty much but that she cried only for about 2 minutes after I left". So I guess we will be sticking with the infant section which is smaller and not so overwhelming until she is comfortable enough to head out with the toddlers. We will go again tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to get the weights in this time and make it an hour, keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Birthday Cory!

Well today is my wonderful husbands birthday, he is officially the big 31. It is funny, since I am 3 months older I just kind of think that when I turn the next number so does he but he is the baby of the two of us.

I don't know what I would do without him in my life, he is the rock that holds us all up and the cement that holds us together. I am so lucky to have him as the father of my children, I am always telling him to grow up and he tells me it's not gonna happen this is who I am, but since he is still such a kid at heart he relates to the girls so well. I look at my friends who are guys and how they relate to their kids and it is so different then Cory and our girls. Cory is down on the floor wrestling with them, tickiling them and just having as much fun if not more fun then they are. The girls have so much fun with him because he does act so silly and crazy with them, I swear there are many times that I feel like I have 3 kids.

Cory has been apart of my life since I was 18 years old and I just can't imagine my life without him in it. We watched the movie P.S. I Love You over the weekend (total chick flick) and it just made me appreciate every minute we have together even more. From now on when I get mad at him for coming home from work late or for not doing something the right way (or should I say my way) with the girls I am really going to try and stop and just be greatful that he is here and we have this time together. One good thing about Cory being such a big kid (even though there are times I wish he wasn't) is that he makes me laugh all the time. Just last night we were watching a preview for the new show starting tonight actually called "Wipeout" and he was just absolutely cracking up by these people falling into the mud or getting hurt and even though I didn't think the preview was funny, his laugh just made me laugh and I love that about him and our relationship. I have always wanted to be with someone that I can just look at and know what they are thinking and the same with them and what I am thinking. I love seeing something or hearing something and thinking I can't wait to show Cory or I can't wait until Cory hears this. He is such a light in all our lives especially mine and not only is he my husband but my best friend too, I love being able to tell him anything and not even have to think twice as to whether or not I can trust him to keep it between us, it is just a given and I love that we can do anything around each other and not judge each other (well a comment might be made) but that is it and we both laugh about it.
So Happy Birthday my wonderful husband and thank you for being here for me and our family. Thank you for working SO hard to make us all SO happy and not expect anything in return.

Love Me!

A day at the lake

Today Cory and I took the girls out to my father in laws lake, well it isn't his lake but a lake that they have land and a boat. The name of the lake is Lake Sherwood, it is out highway 70 a little ways off the Foristell exit. Cory and his brother have been going out to the lake ever since they were about the age of 4 and have some great memories of playing in the sand and water sking. I went with them a couple of times before we had Claire but I don't waterski and am not a huge fan of any body of water that I can not see the bottom of, I am definitely a pool girl. Cory hasn't been out to the lake in about 3 years and with his dad just buying a new boat we thought we would grab the girls and give it a try. My mother in law came along too to help with the girls while Cory, his dad and I were out in the boat so they could ski, I am always the spotter/flag holder, she was going to stay with the girls inland so to speak. Before we went out for them to ski we all did get into the boat and take the girls for a ride. They both looked so cute with their lifejackets on, especially Paige as it came up so high on her it made her cheeks look really chubby. Claire loved going fast and having the wind blow in her face, she also had a really good time helping Grandpa drive the boat. So we did a run once around the lake and then went back and dropped off the girls and my mother in law. Once Cory and his dad both had a chance to ski we headed back in for lunch, while we were out on the lake the girls had a lot of fun digging in the sand and watching all the activity on the beach I guess you would call it. After lunch Claire wanted to go back onto the boat one more time so my mother in law stayed with Paige on the beach and we headed out. Claire had so much fun watching daddy and grandpa ski. It was funny because when they were done and would drop Claire would get concerned thinking something was wrong, I had to keep telling her it was okay and that they were just tired and done. I have to hand it to my father in law, for a 62 year old man he still makes skiing look easy and does a good job at it. I always enjoy watching that husband of mine ski too as he looks sexy behind the boat on one ski doing this tricks, maybe one day I will get up the nerve to get out there and learn how to ski too (probably 2-3 years from now when Claire is learning)...........When we got back from our last run with the boat it was about 1:45pm and I knew that Paige was going to be completely exhausted as she has not had a nap all day. From a distance we could see my mother in law and Paige sitting in the beach chair out by the waters edge and as we got closer I said "Oh my god is Paige asleep?" It was so cute there she was completely out on Connie's lap with her little red hat on and both her binky and blanket. All in all it was a very fun day and I am sure we will be doing it plenty more times this summer. I have attached some pictures of our first of many memories made out at Lake Sherwood.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Lifetime Take Two

So I decided that I would take the girls back up to the gym again today and try the whole childcare situation for a second time. This time I went at 2:45pm and it was much better, when we arrived there were only 6 other children in whole 1200 sq. foot section. I checked the girls in and then tried to find something that Paige would get distracted by. Well that didn't work she total saw me walking out and just went crazy. One of the workers picked her up and tried to distract her with some bubbles but she wasn't having it. I asked one of the girls how long they would let her cry for before they paged me and she said it all just depends on her and how worked up she got. Well I hit the Eliptical Machine at 3:00pm and was paged at 3:15pm to return to childcare area. My poor Paige I have never seen her this upset before I just felt horrible. I decided that I would try to go in and calm her down and see if I could then leave her again. Well she calmed down as soon as I had her in my arms but anytime I tried to put her down she would just freak out again. I then made the decision that I would not leave her again for the day but stay and play in the area with both she and Claire. I thought maybe this would be a good way for her to adjust to the new surrondings. I probably stayed in there for 15 minutes or so and she did start to get a little more comfortable and take a few steps away from me but not very far at all. I don't know what I am going to do, I think she did do me a favor though by making them page me, my legs are already killing me and I wasn't even on that machine but for 15 minutes. I almost wonder if God is trying to tell me that it is going to take a Lifetime for Paige to adjust, who knows! Well Cory is up there right now trying out the Rock Climbing Wall I just pray that he doesn't get hurtand comes home in one piece.

Joining the Trend

Cory and I went for a tour of Lifetime Fitness on Saturday and were really impressed by what we saw. Cory was all about the rock climbing wall that they spend 1.6 million dollars in building and I liked all the different classes that are offered and the 2 hours of free childcare a day while you either workout, do a class, swim or just relax by yourself in the sauna, steam room hot tub/spa etc. The tour that we went on probably all in all took about 30 minutes and the guy that gave the tour was great real low key with no pressure to join. We told him that we were not ready to sign up at that moment that we wanted to talk about it and we would get back to them. Well last night we headed back up their and signed up. I like it because you pay month to month and if you decide within the first 30 days that it isn't for you, you can stop your membership and get back all the money to paid to join.

So today I decided that the girls and I would get right into the swing of things and give it our first official go at it. We got there about 9:40am, I got the girls all checked into the childcare area, which is great they have about 4 different sections for the kids to be in. They have an area for just infants, they also have a computer area with 18 computers (not hooked up to the Internet of course) they have a maze area with slides/tunnels and nets for the kids to climb on, and there is also a gym area where they can play ball, jump rope etc. Oh yeah and the kids can go outside to a fenced in area that is covered in what reminds me of AstroTurf. ANYWAYS back to me dropping off the girls, I was a little hesitant in leaving Paige as she has never really been left in an environment like this before. So I walked the girls over to one of the girls who was in there with the kids and explained that I didn't know how Paige would do because this was basically her first time in a daycare setting, but that big sister was also there. The girl was real sweet and told me that she thought that she would be fine, I also asked if I should leave a diaper bag in case they needed to change her, she told me that if she needed a diaper change they would page me. Okay great, whatever, so I say my goodbyes tell Claire to watch after her sister and that I would be back soon and head out the door. I went up stairs got on the treadmill and started my workout at 9:55am, WELL just about 15 minutes into my workout I hear a page over the intercom to please come to the childcare area. SO I stop the treadmill at 10:10am or so and head down to see what is going on, come to find out when I check in at the desk, Paige has a dirty diaper. I was a little peeved about this, thinking you stopped me in the middle of my workout to come change a diaper, I was just getting into the groove of things. I see Paige and Claire and head over to find that not only is Paige stinky but also is in complete tears with snot running out of her nose. Then I look around and see that quite a few of the kids in their are crying (I would not want that job, no thank you). I gather up the kids and we head to the bathroom to change Paige's diaper and I decide that we will just put on our suits and hit the pool and try the childcare again tomorrow. I felt terrible leaving them there not that it wasn't nice because it is very nice but I could tell that even Claire was trying to soak it all in. Also, I didn't put Paige in the infant section so she could be with Claire and I think that was a mistake in itself. Tomorrow when I go Claire will be at camp so I will put Paige in the infant section where she won't be as overwhelmed and have more of the nurturing aspect that she is use to and needs. I keep telling myself that she just needs time to adjust and maybe today I only got a 15 minute workout but tomorrow maybe it will be 25, who knows.

We were at the pool for 1.5 hours and they both loved it. They keep it heated at 80 degrees all the time so it was nice and warm and we could just walk right in. It is a zero gravity pool so there are no steps and it just slopes downward very slowly all in all the deepest it gets is 5 feet. Claire had a great time going down the slide, it was funny to watch her she was like a canon ball getting shot out of a canon being so light weight and wet she just flew out.

Well that has been our day so far, it is 2pm and both the girls are taking naps, I will keep you posted on how the childcare goes with Paige, but we have officially joined the newest trend in Wildwood, Chesterfield and Ballwin and I think that we will really enjoy it.

Fling Vs. Crazy

Okay so two of my blogger friends have already done this and it seems fun so I thought that I would join in:

Things I could fling:
Everytime I go to the bathroom the entire family has to come (well not Cory) but both the girls and the dog.
Claire's jealously of Paige at the moment.
Claire wanting to be held all the time.
Just when I sit down for some me time, someone needs something.
Getting the girls dinner ready therefore mine is now cold.
Claire having to have her straps just right in her carseat or she FREAKS out!
All the why's I get asked everyday.
The phone call that I have been getting almost every night from Cory saying that he is just now getting ready to leave work and I am expecting him to walk in the door in about 15 minutes.


Things that I am crazy about:
Claire playing with my hair every night before she falls asleep.
Paige running over to me yelling "Mama", giving me that smile.
My nightly back scratches from my hubby.
My husbands handy work.
Cory's ability to make me laugh even when I am in the worst mood.
Paige's sweet laugh and how she snuggles with me every night.
My conversations and stories with Claire.

That was fun thanks girls!

What you shouldn't do on a Friday

My friend Lara and I took the kids to The Magic House yesterday and man was that a mistake. Lara and I have known each other since our Sophomore year in high school and have kids the exact same age except she has two boys and I have two girls. Her oldest and mine were born 4 days a part and her youngest and my youngest are almost exactly a month a part. Anyways, we decided that it would be a fun play date to take the kids to the Magic House so off we went. If I had known how crowded it was going to be we definitely would not have gone. I mean we knew that on a rainy morning and it would be crowded we were not completely nieve (sp?) but we soon found out that Friday is a big group day for summer camps as well. So on top of it being so crowded you couldn't move and it being really hot and stuffy in there, they charge you $7.50 for anyone over 1. Well guess what Paige hasn't turned one yet and neither had Adam (Lara's youngest) I mean come on that is ridiculous all kids 3 and under should be free in my opinion, even Clarie and Matthew didn't have a whole lot to play with. ANYWAY we stuck it out for a little over 90 minutes after all we just paid $15 to get in and then decided to head down the street to the Kirkwood McDonald's. Well that place was a zoo too, I swear I saw at least 3 moms there that were also at The Magic House, I even saw my neighbor Kelli there. Well at least the kids seemed to have fun, but I will not be going back there again until the kids are probably 5 & 7 for sure. I was going to attach some pictures but for some reason the button that I need to have Edit HTML isn't on my page, so maybe next time.

Since it is such a beautiful Saturday Cory and I decided to take the girls to the pool again and they are both getting so comfortable in the water. Not only is Claire jumping in off the side now, Cory also really worked with her on the doggy paddle and she can swim back to the side to get out and do it all over again. She also swam half the length of the pool too. Paige is happy either in the water or out on the side where she can just walk around and play with the toys, was also going to add pics from the pool but the samething as above.

Alright, Alright

Well a couple of my friends have been on me (and you know who you are) about not posting anything on my blog for a week SO I will give you an update on us from the past week.
Over the weekend Cory and I took the girls to the pool and they both absolutely LOVED it. Saturday was the first day back so to speak for the year and Claire did good but by Sunday she was definitely back into the swing of things. She loves to wear her floaties and just be by herself in the water (which makes me a nervous wreck). If you try to help her get from one part of the pool to the next by pushing or pulling her along she gets very upset with you and says "No, I can do it myself", well you might be able to do it yourself but it is going to take you all day. Her new thing this year is to jump in off the side. At first she kept doing belly flops and we had to explain to her the difference between an actual jump and a belly flop. Within 10 minutes she had it down and was jumping to Cory in the deep end with no hesitations. We did have one panic moment as Claire had gotten out of the pool to have a snack therefore we took the floaties off. When snack was finished she wanted to get back into the pool to see Cory and went right down to the second step and then jumped off, sinking to the bottom. Luckily Cory was close enough that he got to her really quickly but she was under for a few seconds but it seemed like forever to me, Claire however was fine and didn't seem too upset by it. We had to explain to her that she didn't have her floaties on and she can't jump in like that without them on because she will go under water and could get hurt.
Paige loved the water too! On Saturday when we went the water was still pretty darn cold and I didn't know how she would react to it, but it didn't bother her and she actually hung in there better than Claire and her cousins when it came to getting really cold. She loved splashing the water and playing with all the toys, Cory even put her all the way under several times on both Saturday and Sunday and she didn't mind it at all.
Well today we went to the grocery store and again I had another moment that I needed the sensor button. At first the girls were both doing great but as the food continued to be added to the cart and as they recognized the food they like (provel cheese) they both wanted it. Claire being old enough to understand I could tell her that she had to wait until we got home but Paige didn't get it, she just keep pointing and getting more and more upset. Well as we were in the check out I said "Paige just knock it off". Claire on the other hand says "Paige stop being a turd", now for those of you that don't know Cory loves to teach Claire all types of things and sayings, this is one of them. Cory tells Claire and Paige to stop being turds all the time and of course I get to be the one who is embarrassed by her saying them when he isn't around. What is that saying "Kids, they say the darnedest (sp?) things", I think I would have to add to that "when they are taught by their fathers".
Hope your happy now CR and hope you are feeling less blah. :)

Capturing the Moment

The first weekend in May we had our family pictures taken at a local park. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun! We have had our family picture taken for the past two years but this was the first true/complete family picture because this year Paige was in it as well. We wanted to get a good family picture along with Claire's 3 year old pictures and Paige's 1 year old pictures.
Cory & I knew going into the session that we might not get the best pictures due to Paige's mood. Ever since Paige turned about 10 months old she starting having severe separation anxiety with me and stranger anxiety as well. This was still the case during the pictures but she was starting to grow out of the stage a little, so we knew that we might not get the best that we could had we waited until Paige was closer to 18 months but we wanted to "Capture the Moment" in our and the girls lives.
You may notice in the pictures some of us are having more fun then others, but all in all we had a great day and have one more wonderful family memory to add to our book.

I have attached a few of my favorites from the session!

This one is my favorite of all 4 of us!

Cory & I finding it funny that Paige is pulling Claire's hair!

This one seems to be a favorite for quite a few people.

I really like this one, but as you can see Paige was definitely done by now!

Our Babies!



Claire





Paige